John 21:15-19 "Do You Love Me?" - Dr. Steven J. Lawson

that was awesome a couple of comments i i cannot believe there were only 10 people up here i i thought it was being piped in you obviously practiced and rehearsed so much that was done with excellence excellent so thank you for that and it's always a given that there'll be ladies in the choir getting men in the choir is always a challenge and those three men really carried the ball i mean you did it guys so i think you can tell by our response how grateful we are and what a contribution you have made to enhance our worship of god today and and what a wonderful selection too that just magnifies the lord jesus christ on this day when we will be taking the lord's supper and on this day when we will be looking at a passage in which our lord is is speaking so we have a wonderful rest of the service already planned it's been glorious to this point as we have sung together and heard the choir and now we're going to look into the word of god i'll pray and then we will expound exposit the text and then we'll take the lord's supper together so this is about as good as it gets so praise the lord if you would take your bible and turn with me to the gospel of john john chapter 21 and today we're going to be looking at verses 15 through 19 john 21 verses 15 through 19 and if you're new to trinity bible church and even as i parked and walked in i visited with a couple it's their first time to be here and and and so i know we have those who are new and we're excited and thrilled that you're here um we're preaching verse by verse through books in the bible and the reason and this is going to astound you for the reason is the way god wrote the bible okay he didn't give us a topical index uh he gave us 66 books so we have a library right here and so we just preach verse by verse through books in the bible and we've been in the gospel of john for some time and we've come close to the end next sunday will be the last message from the gospel of john and then we're going to be after that launching into the book of genesis so we've got a lot ahead of us but this sunday we're in john 21 verses 15 through 19 and the title of this message i think you'll immediately understand why the title of the message is do you love me that's a question the lord asks each and every one of us here today so i want to begin reading in verse 15. so when they had finished breakfast jesus said to simon peter simon son of john do you love me more than these he said to him yes lord you know that i love you he said to him tend my lambs he said to him a second time simon son of john do you love me he said to him yes lord you know that i love you he said to him shepherd my sheep he said to him the third time simon son of john do you love me peter was grieved because he had said this to him the third time do you love me and he said to him lord you know all things you know that i love you jesus said to him tend my sheep truly truly i say to you when you were younger you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you and bring you where you do not wish to go now this he said signifying by what kind of death he would glorify god and when he had spoken this he said to him follow me this is the reading of god's word let us go to him in prayer father you have spoken directly to us today through this passage of scripture and you are auditing our hearts and you are pressing this very question to our soul do you love me and lord we respond with peter you know all things you know where i am spiritually you know everything that's going on in my life and you know the depths of my soul even better than i know the depth of my soul and lord thank you that you still commission us even when our love for you is less than what it should be that you still send us to tend to the sheep and other believers we are grateful to hear you say to peter follow me you say it to each one of us here today nothing has changed you still call out to us to follow you so lord i pray that you would use this passage to urge us to fall follow you even more closely we pray this in the mighty name of jesus christ our sovereign lord and savior amen in these verses we see jesus peel back the layers of peter's heart and ask him the most important question that could ever be asked of another believer it's the most important question that could ever be asked you everything else would be secondary this is primary do you love me and with this question jesus is putting his finger on the vital live nerve of being a disciple of jesus christ of authentic christianity do you love me because this is the very heartbeat of christianity it is supreme love for christ and in the new birth god took out your heart of stone that was so resistant to christ and he put in you a heart of flesh and with that heart of flesh he gave you a love for christ before you were born again you were a christ rejecter and the moment you were converted you became a christ lover and a follower of jesus christ and the whole bible bears witness to this that loving christ is an essential element of true saving faith i don't have time to survey the entire old testament but simply to remind you that when god gave moses the ten commandments he said that his loving kindness would be shown to those who love him and who keep his commandments to be inside the kingdom of god is to be one a recipient of the redeeming love of god and two to become one who loves christ and the shema in deuteronomy 6 5 you shall love the lord your god with all your heart and all your soul and all of your mind and all of your strength that is the bottom line for my life for your life that you love god with every inch and every ounce of you and i just need to lay this foundation before we step into this passage when we come to the new testament it actually becomes all the more clear that saving faith and loving christ are synonymous we read in luke 7 for example that those who are forgiven much love much if you have been forgiven your sins i can assure you you are one who loves christ there is no one on planet earth who has been forgiven of their sins who does not love christ much and when we come to the book of romans one of the most famous or well-known verses in the entire bible romans 8 28 and we know that god causes all things to work together for good comma to those who love god to those who are called according to his purpose everyone who is sovereignly called by god into fellowship with christ is identified as one who loves god if you're a believer in jesus christ you are one who loves jesus christ and that love did not self-originate it was placed in there in the miracle of the new birth when we come to first corinthians 2 and verse 9 eyes not seen nor ear heard nor has it even entered into the heart of man all that god has prepared for those who love him heaven is prepared for those who love him heaven is not being prepared for those who do not love jesus christ if you do not love jesus christ there's no heaven for you and in first corinthians 8 verse 3 it says that christ knows those meaning has a personal relationship with those who love him and in first corinthians 16 and verse 22 listen to this verse if anyone does not love the lord he is to be accursed that means to be damned that means to be judged if anyone does not love jesus christ the wrath of god abides on you eternally in ephesians 6 24 paul writes grace be to all those who love our lord jesus christ there is no grace for those who do not love jesus christ grace is exclusively for those who love christ and the reason we love christ is because grace has pursued us in james 1 verse 12 and again i just need to lay this foundation before we get into this text unless there's any misunderstanding of what jesus is saying in james 1 verse 12 listen to this the crown of life the lord has promised to those who love him you see you will receive one day the crown of life when you step into his presence if you love him it becomes synonymous with saving faith and listen to james 2 verse 5 did not god choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him you see you can know who the elect are once they're converted it's very easy they are the ones who love christ and those who have been chosen by god love christ those who believe in christ love christ and those who receive the kingdom of god and are made heirs of the kingdom eternally are those who love christ and so we see that at the very epicenter of what it is to be a christian what it is to be a believer you are a christ lover you're not enduring religion you are loving christ and enjoying salvation now this love that god has given us for christ is not static it fluctuates our love for christ increases at times and it decreases at other times it's it's it's not the same and here today your love for christ is either on the upswing or it's on the downswing love for christ is constantly fluctuating hot and cold and so it must be cultivated and nurtured by prayer by time with christ by being in the word of god with worship with fellowship with other believers who who love christ and as you are in the word of god in prayer in worship in fellowship it's like pouring gas on a fire and it rages stronger but when you're away from church unnecessarily and out of his word and not in prayer that fire is cooling off and that is why paul prays in philippians 1 verse 9 i pray that your love may abound still more and more why would he pray why would he pray that for the philippians because love is never stagnant it fluctuates and i'm praying paul says that your love for god and your love for one another will abound more and more than what it is right now i'm praying you'll get to the next level of your devotion to christ and you remember what jesus said to the church at ephesus in revelation 2 verse 4 after he commends them for all of these things he then says in verse 4 but i have this against you you have left your first love and it is possible having entered the christian life with a a honeymoon love a honeymoon excitement for for christ that somewhere along the line that love can can cool off and you become lukewarm and jesus gives the church at ephesus four steps that they must follow in order to revive their love for god and so what jesus asks peter here is a very important question and it's really almost like a diagnostic question where are you with me where are you in your relationship with me do you love me and so i want us to look at this passage because peter is someone who loves christ he's a believer all believers love christ there's no believer who who regrets that they gave their life to christ there is no believer who ever wants out it's just that this love that we have for christ it's either increasing or it's decreasing depending upon different factors in your spiritual life so let's look at this all that's by way of introduction that was kind of a macarthur-esque tour around the world so the first main heading i want you to see is in verses 15 through 17 it's the recommission it's the recommission because with these diagnostic questions jesus is actually recommissioning peter as the leader of the the ministry team and as the primary preacher and the primary speaker in the early church that's what jesus is doing here he is recommissioning peter so beginning in verse 15 let's walk through this so when they the disciples had finished breakfast remember it was prepared by jesus so this is an immediate transition they're still around the campfire they have just finished breakfast that there's not a time lapse this now in this intimate setting with all of the disciples there all seven of them and jesus jesus said to simon peter simon peter the one who has denied the lord three times simon peter the one who said i'm going fishing and pulls the whole ministry team in another direction simon peter who's acting like old simon before he was converted jesus said to simon peter simon peter do you love me more than these that's quite a question to be posed the word for love here is agapeo you no doubt are familiar with that that word agape love it it refer it's the the strongest word for love in the greek language it speaks of a love with deep commitment and strong affection a fierce loyalty to the one you love passionate about the one you love and jesus just puts all the cards out on the table he cuts to the chase he gets to the bottom line he peels back the layers do you love me and then he adds more than these now what does that mean more than these these what well there's two possibilities and it could even have both in mind and the most obvious is do you love me more than these other disciples because it was just a few days ago you told me you did they will all deny you but i will never deny you so you elevated yourself above the other disciples you put yourself on the pedestal you thought so highly of yourself you said oh they'll fall away they'll deny you but i will never deny you and you know what happened peter needed an after foot meant [Applause] peter denied the lord three times and the other disciples know it and so this is a somewhat of a though intimate a public setting here and peter needs to be reinstated and so jesus this is like an ordination exam do you love me more than these other disciples here because you said that you did the other possibility is more than these fishing boats and these nets and these sails that you've gone back to in other words you love me more than the world do you love me more than these other things that i've already called you out of do you love me more than these things and with this diagnostic question jesus went for the juggler vein cut to the bone and what he is asking is peter where is your heart where is your life where is your love where is your devotion and by asking the question it is obvious that his love is not where it needs to be or he would have never denied the lord or he would have never gone back to fishing if he truly loved the lord as he should this is an embarrassing question for peter to be asked in front of the other disciples can you imagine your wife or your husband in a small group bible study looking at you in front of everyone else and saying do you love me that would be humiliating that's what's going on here and he said to him peter said to jesus yes affirmative because all believers do love jesus yes lord you know you know that i love you and as many of you are well aware the second use of the word love that peter now uses is not the same word for love that jesus used jesus used the word agapeo which is love at the highest level love and his strongest measure peter says yes lord you know that i not agapeo you but i fully owe you which speaks of brotherly love that's what the word for example the city of philadelphia it's a city of brotherly love it's kind of a friendship love um it's a step down from agapeo love it it's a love of kind of buddies in other words well lord you know i really like you and this is a true statement jesus said to him in verse 15 jesus said to him and this is so dramatic of an encounter you could almost hear the grass growing as jesus is drilling down it's like peter is in the dentist chair and and jesus is drilling down now this is an amazing thing that jesus says this is important to us today jesus said to peter said to him tend my lambs we would have thought jesus would have said you're on the b team now turn in your game jersey uh get back with me in two years and we'll see if you're fit for leadership no jesus is so gracious jesus does not bench him jesus actually affirms him in his call to lead and to and to minister and to be the point man of the leadership team he says ten my lambs in other words lead and feed and just remember these are my sheep these are my lambs they're not yours there's mine i'm just putting you in charge over my lambs and lambs here is a is a metaphor for all believers because lambs are weak and defenseless and easily led astray without a shepherd just like we all are without a shepherd and so jesus here amazingly in front of the other disciples recommissions peter that this should speak volumes of encouragement to every one of us here today that you don't have to be perfect in order to be used by god otherwise none of us would be used and in no way is this elevating peter's denials and and peter's really impetuous going back to to the fishing nets what but what this is saying is is that where sin is abound grace there's much more abound and jesus is so ready to put peter back into the starting lineup but peter is going to have to come clean with peter jesus knows where peter is peter needs to know where peter is so look at verse 16. he jesus said to him peter again a second time so jesus now this is like second verse same as the first he's drilling down even deeper he's picking the scab and it's bleeding a little bit more right now simon son of john and i told you last week whenever jesus addresses peter as simon that's not an encouragement you're acting like your old self before i called you to myself simon son of john here it is again do you love me that's the issue now please note he does not add more than these the second time jesus softens this probing question and in essence is is willing to meet peter halfway he just simply says do you love me and again i want to underscore that jesus knows exactly what's in peter's heart and where peter is the point of the question is not for jesus to secure information he does not already have the point of the question is is for peter to look into the mirror and look into his own heart and into his own soul is there love for jesus christ in my heart peter you need to answer this and he peter said to him jesus yes lord you know that i love you and and peter has to come clean and jesus says do you love me with an agape love and and and j and peter says lord you know that i have a phileo love for you peter knows he can't blow smoke with the lord peter knows that that he can't fake it with with the lord peter knows that the lord knows exactly where he is this is a time for peter to come clean and he does and he says yes lord you know that my love is less than what it should be for you right now that i've become distracted that i have been pulled away that i have fizzled out that that i have collapsed when when the test was put to me that that i have been distant in in my relationship with you that that i have not been abiding in you like i should be that i have been away you know that i do not love you like you are wanting me to love you we got to give it to peter he's not like the pharisees they just try to cover up their fake religiosity peter says you know that i only have a brotherly love for you that the embers in my heart have been cooled off that the flame has died down that i don't love you as much as i as i have loved you jesus said to him the end of verse 16 shepherd my sheep this is like a reenactment of jonah this is god of a second chance that this is the grace and the forgiveness of jesus christ towards peter who has been mr big talk and has fumbled the ball he's faltered he's failed and jesus says to him shepherd my sheep that the that the purposes of god must inevitably go forward i i have appointed you you will be my preacher on the day of pentecost and you will be my primary preacher in these opening chapters of of the book of acts and not even you can mess this up peter is writing a wave of destiny here and jesus says shepherd my sheep the very same idea as ten my lambs there's good news in this because here today there are many of us perhaps even me surely even me who's not where i need to be and maybe that's you well i want you to know that there is much grace and much forgiveness from the lord and let me just put an asterisk here i do believe that there are sins that disqualify you from the pulpit and from the ministry and you get one shot at the pulpit and you mess that up you're out and so this is not saying hey you can just live however you want to live and i'll still use you but what this is saying jesus is saying to peter i'll take you where you are and i'll take you where you need to be and i will use you with a huge responsibility to shepherd my sheep so look at verse 17 he said to him the third time this won't go away it's like a boomerang session here comes again he said to him the third time why a third time because mr big talk denied him three times because peter denied the lord three times you're gonna have to man up now and you're gonna have to confess this in essence three times you're gonna have to repent three times we're gonna have to make this right and jesus is gonna make it right but not independent of this painfully excruciating recommissioning back into the leadership of the disciples there's no cheap grace here you're going to have to go through this awkward examination so i said to him the third time and third time simon son of john simon barjona do you love me and how gracious of the lord this time when jesus says do you love me he does not use the verb agapeo jesus now comes down to peter's level and meets peter where peter is and uses the word that peter has been using to self-describe himself jesus now says do you filet o me because i know exactly where you are and i'm not kicking you out i'm going to reinsert you and raise you up do you love me do you do do you even like me a lot do you have even brotherly love for me and how painful this must have been for peter to have to hear this that the lord is lowering somewhat the standard to come down to peter's level of spirituality and he peter said to him [Music] lord you know all things that's the wisest thing to say to the lord lord you know all things you know that i love you fellaio you've read me like an open book you haven't just looked at me you've looked into me in fact you've looked through me hebrews 4 13 all things are open and laid bare before the eyes of him with whom we have to do there's no secrets in heaven and no secrets with the lord he he knows it all and jesus said to him now this is the third time ten my sheep and he reaffirms his commitment to peter and though peter has faded towards jesus jesus has not faded towards peter though though peter has somewhat folded his tent and just collapsed the lord has remained the foundation of his life and the lord has pledged to continue to use peter this should speak volumes to every one of us let's be honest most of us here live in dallas texas and there are a million distractions going on all around us there's work there's traffic there's office there's school there's kids there's there's grandkids there's there's the mall there's shopping there's everything going on and we're getting signals from every direction from television to cable tv to to the internet to the to the cell phone to on and on and on and on and let's be honest many times in our christian lives even this week we have been distracted from loving the lord which is the single most important thing and yet how gracious the lord is towards us every time i walk up to this pulpit my prayer usually goes something like this lord you know i've not prayed enough i mean do any of us pray enough but the lord continues to use us because his love is that agapeo love there's one thing i want to bring to your attention here for those of us who serve the lord which would be all of us jesus does not say to peter do you love sheep because there's some sheep that are pretty hard to love he says do you love me and if you love me which gets at the heart of the matter then you will have a supernatural love given to you for the sheep if you're being asked to serve in the nursery the question is not do you love little babies the question is do you love jesus and if you love jesus you're gonna love his little lambs so this is the recommissioning do you love me do you have a deepening affection for me are you on fire for me is there passion in your soul for me now second i want you to note the prediction in verses in verse 18 the first part of verse 19 jesus having now recommissioned peter in front of the other disciples so that the other disciples know that when peter stands up in the upper room in acts 1 and and replaces judas with matthias and then when peter stands up on the day of pentecost that that peter has is not going awol or taking this on himself that the lord himself the head of the church has put peter back at the front so the lord now looks all the way to the very end of peter's life and he says truly truly i say to you literally amen amen i say to you when you were younger when you're a young man you used to gird yourself and what that means is you had the strength to clothe yourself to care for yourself to look out for yourself no one had to take care of you you were a husky young fisherman with burly arms and strong chest and you were able to dress yourself in the morning and walk wherever you wished you were able to go where you desired to do what you wanted to do but look in the middle of verse 18 but when you grow old and right here is a prophecy that peter will grow old that he's not going to die right now or the lord's not going to take him out like ananias and sapphira that he will actually grow old he will get to the full maturity of years in his life when you grow old you will stretch out your hands emblematic of to get dressed and someone will gird you peter you're going to be an old man and you're not even going to be able to take care of yourself i remember remember my father at the end of his life having to we all taking care of him in different ways helping him to the bathroom helping him into bed out of bed helping him change his clothes that's what happens the old men at the end you can't even do the most elementary bodily functions in care someone will gird you someone's gonna have to dress you someone's gonna have to pick you up and carry you where you need to go and he says and bring you where you do not wish to go do you see that someone's going to come and capture you and someone's going to overpower you and someone is going to imprison you and someone is going to martyr you and someone is going to take your life how do we know that that's the interpretation of that well look at the first part of the next verse a blind man could see it look now this he said signifying what kind of death he would glorify god it's not just that he would die it is also how he would die it's not just when he would die at the end of his life it's how he would die and this is an allusion to a crucifixion that he his hands will be stretched out as if on a cross and he will be crucified just as jesus was crucified and it's interesting the most reliable ancient church historian a man named eusebius writing at the end of the 200s the beginning of the 300s writes in his ecclesiastical history that peter was arrested for preaching the gospel and peter was tied to a cross and his hands stretched out and was crucified and it was also reported that when they came to crucify him peter actually said i'm unworthy to die as my lord and master crucify me upside down that was peter how the lord recommissioned him and peter remained strong in the faith a couple things i want to bring to your attention before we move on number one just because you love jesus doesn't mean you're going to have an easy life peter had a rough life peter had a tough life peter was imprisoned long before he was martyred and there is a price to pay for discipleship it's never marked down it's never discounted it will cost you everything to be a follower of christ it will cost you everything to love jesus with all of your heart second we learn here jesus holds your future nothing surprises him because he has foreordained everything about your future and he already knows the day you're going to die it's already predetermined by by god you're not going to live one second longer or one second less than what god has already written in his book and third you will you may glorify god even in your death that's what he says at the beginning of verse 19. you may glorify god in the way that you live you may glorify god in the way that you die and when you come to the end it is a glorious opportunity to bear witness of your faith in jesus christ as you are there on your deathbed and you have come to the end and the family has gathered around you and there are there are soft whispers and murmuring in your bedroom or in your hospital room it is a glorious opportunity for you to give honor to god and to have your hand held high and for your voice to be strong and to say i am graduating to glory this is the greatest day of my life i am going into the immediate presence of jesus christ you may glorify god in your death because he has removed the sting from death and the fourth thing that i would have you note here well i need to move on last thing i want you to see is the invitation at the end of verse 19 hang with me here at the end of verse 19 having gone from peter when you were young you could do what you wanted to do to peter at the end of his life someone's having to dress him and he's going to be stretched out and crucified jesus now brings it back to the immediate moment and he said to him look at the last two words follow me that is the most repeated invitation to ever come from the lips of jesus follow me it's not just sit there it's to get up and follow me it's what it is to be a disciple it's what it is to be a christian you are moving out for god you are following christ and he's not standing still he's moving out you don't have to pray lord lead me he is leading you you need to pray that you will follow his leadership that you will follow him and jesus says follow me and peter knows that to follow christ is going to end up in a martyr's death at the end nevertheless follow me and he doesn't say where we're going he doesn't say how we're going to get there he doesn't give him a five-year plan he doesn't give him a a ten-year plan he doesn't give him a a portfolio or a package that if you'll follow me here well well this no you just follow me you just stay in my hip pocket you you just move out and follow me now to follow christ means you're no longer going your own way you're no longer doing your own thing you have burned up your agenda for your life you have discarded it and thrown it away and you now are simply following christ and to be honest you and i have no idea really what next week will require of us or what next month or next year will require of us only jesus knows all we have to do and know is to follow jesus day by day and we're also no longer going according to the world we we have forsaken the world we are in the world but we are not of the world we we we have burned our bridges behind us and there's no going back the world behind me the cross before me we are following jesus we have abandoned the world's values abandoned the world's beliefs we now march to the beat of a different drummer we're no longer on the broad path we're on the narrow path we're no longer with the many we are now with the few if you want to go with the many then you're going to hell it is with the few that are following jesus and peter understands that and he understands the demand something of what is now being required of him and to follow jesus requires a decisive step of commitment it's not just warm feelings it's not just tender emotions it is a decisive act of my will to step out of the crowd to abandon the world to hook up with jesus and i will now follow him it means to go wherever he leads it means to do whatever he requires it means to suffer whatever he asks it means to give whatever he demands it means to obey whatever he commands to follow jesus means you are surrendered to jesus and you are submissive to jesus before you were converted listen you live for yourself now that you have come to christ our follower of christ you have died to self and you are now living for christ and following christ and so this is what jesus says to peter and he says to you and me to follow christ means that also you are imitating christ you are emulating christ you now live like christ lived you now believe what christ taught you now talk like jesus talked you now love what jesus loved and hate what jesus hated and you now reject what jesus rejects and you are the embodiment on this earth of the lord jesus christ that's what it means to be a christian it's the diminutive form of the word christ it just means a little christ that that's what a christian is you just sound like christ you you look like christ you you talk like christ you you walk like christ and that is the invitation that is being given and extended is more than an invitation it is a command follow me and so that is the command that the lord is issuing to all of us here today and i want to know are you all in with christ are you following christ well let me peel that down to the very seed in the middle of that fruit do you love christ are you on fire for christ are you passionate for christ are you unashamed of christ do you speak up for christ are you willing to go anywhere anytime to do anything with anyone for christ that's the question would you be willing to be a missionary for christ would you be willing to go across the street for christ this is what jesus is saying to peter that's what he's saying to you and me you've got to be all in and he takes us from where we are and he grows us and he matures us and he develops us over time to where we need to be so would you give your life to christ like signing a blank check for him to fill in the place and the amount but you put your life on the altar like a living and holy sacrifice that's that's what christ requires it's what christ demands and i understand that what we have just looked at is huge it's huge and i'm not going to come here and water down the bible and so maybe today as we come to the lord's table maybe we all need to say lord my love for you has maybe diminished a little bit maybe not where it needs to be lord what would it take for me to love you today more than i did this time last year this time last month or when i was a young person may today may you be able to say this today i love jesus christ more than at any time in my life that i have never loved christ more than i love him right now may this be our honest prayer and about self-evaluation before the lord and be encouraged you saw what jesus said to peter tend my sheep i'll come down to your level and take you where you are you just need to present yourself to the lord well let's pray father we have ease drop on a scene here in peter's life that is quite the scene and lord it's very easy for us to put ourselves into peter's place here because you're asking us the same question today do you love me everything else will fall in place if we will just love christ in his name we pray amen

Channel: Trinity Bible

Views: 8,527

Rating: 4.9384613 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: sb0C-_1Fq7I

Length: 56min 38sec (3398 seconds)

Published: Sun May 02 2021